On May 23rd 1934 Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot and killed by law enforcement officers during an ambush in Bienville, Louisiana. Gangster Files s1e3: Bonnie & Clyde: Myth & Reality, comment
Clyde Barrow, born in 1909, was a habitual criminal. For a living he cracked safes, robbed stores, and stole cars. Clyde Barrow met 19-year-old Bonnie Parker in January of 1930 and they became lovers. ibid.
Myths surrounding Bonnie and Clyde began to eclipse the reality. ibid.
20 family and friend stood trial for harbouring the couple. ibid.
The Barrow Gang were not master-criminals. They were often short of money. ibid.
They lived together in this horrible confined space in a car. ibid.
In reality they were small-scale operators. ibid.
There were five people living in a car … A life of abject misery. ibid.
George Kelly Barnes is better know by his pseudonym, Machine Gun Kelly. He was an American gangster born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1900. Machine Gun Kelly was active as a criminal during the prohibition era. The Gangster Files s1e4: Machine Gun Kelly: Muyth & Reality, comment, Amazon 2023
His fame has been elevated to such an extent that for millions around the world, he has become an American folklore hero. ibid.
He ended up in Alcatraz prison. ibid.
Machine Gun Kelly and his crimes became a favourite subject of the film noir movement. ibid.
He was a rather inept and cowardly windbag who was propelled by unanticipated stardom by his wife.
Machine Gun Kelly, 1958. A double feature with 1958’s The Bonnie Parker Story. ibid.
There was a few people killed in the robberies I was in. They claimed when I was arrested they accused me of killing 14. The Gangster Files s1e5: Alvin Karpis: Myth & Reality
The gang was founded by Fred Barker and Alvin Karpis. ibid. comment
Although the Barker-Karpis Gang were not as notorious as their contemporaries, such as the Dillinger Gang or the Barrow Gang, the Barker-Karpis gang was in fact much more ruthless. ibid.
The Barker-Karpis Gang is renowned for its long-running myth that the activities of the gang were actually run and controlled by the Barker brothers’ mother, Kate. ibid.
The life and death of Arizona Barker, better known to posterity as Ma Barker, has widely captured the imagination of popular society in America for nearly a century. The Gangster Files s1e6: Ma Barker: Myth & Reality, comment
We know for certain that from 1931 to 1935 Ma Barker was an enabler and an accomplice of the notorious Barker-Karpis Gang, one of the most infamous criminal gangs operating in the Midwestern United States. ibid.
Ma Barker was depicted as a very evil crime boss. Hoover in particular depicted her as one of America’s most notorious gangsters who was controlling and building crimes. ibid.
Those who knew Ma Barker personally insisted she had no criminal role. ibid.